Internationally known and beloved trombonist Ray Anderson will be taking the stage at The Jazz Loft on August 9 at 7 p.m. with a solo concert that he describes as “both a daunting and exhilarating undertaking, like climbing a mountain or running a marathon.”
The solo concert is based on his CD Marching On.
“In 2016 I played solo at the Le Mans Jazz Festival in France,” Anderson recalls, “and that concert began the journey that produced my solo CD. Virtually unchanged since the 13th century, the trombone is simply a tube of brass one can slide to make it longer or shorter. Every sound must come from the player’s lips. For Felix Mendelsohn the trombone was the voice of God, and in America there are many trombone gospel choirs worshipping in African-American churches. The trombone is also used by circus clowns and any composer seeking absurd, humorous, or outrageous sounds. I will endeavor to use it in all these ways, and maybe some new ones, to entertain you.”
Anyone who has ever experienced Ray Anderson and his music artistry, knows that Ray’s humor and joy are as much a part of the show as the music. Anderson is formerly the Director of Jazz Studies at Stony Brook University, and still maintains a thriving performance and recording career that has spanned more than three decades. He is co-founder and vice president of The Jazz Loft.
The French newspaper Le Monde, said this in 2016 about the solo show… “Bent over his instrument from which he draws the most powerful sounds or the chords (yes, chords by harmonics) pianissimo, the eternal young man from Chicago with the booming laugh (1952) delivers a stunning “performance.”
Michael Bourne of Downbeat Magazine stated: “Ray’s chops are phenomenal – from swooping legato to breakneck staccato, from the nastiest growls to the sweetest whimpers – but it’s evident that he’s not about technique, that he’ll sometimes altogether forget technique. It’s the feeling he’s playing,…”
“The compositional prowess and unbridled creativity of Ray Anderson is hard to capture with mere words,” said Tom Manuel, president of The JazzLoft. “His spirit, ability to connect with his audience, and especially his genuine and authentic way of communicating his music is absolutely magical.”
The Jazz Loft is located at 275 Christian Avenue in Stony Brook. Tickets are $30 adults, $25 seniors, $20 students and $15 for children.
Pictured from left, Ray Anderson, Kara Hahn and Tom Manuel. Photo courtesy of The Jazz Loft
The Jazz Loft, 275 Christian Avenue in Stony Brook, presented two local notables with the Jazz Loft Legends in Jazz award on Dec. 2. World-renowned trombonist Ray Anderson and former Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn were both honored by Jazz Loft founder and president Tom Manuel.
The annual Legend in Jazz Award seeks to recognize individuals who have contributed to the art form of Jazz in a deep and meaningful way. The recipients have invested profoundly into the soundtrack of our society and culture and have used the power of music to speak to people’s heart and souls.
Ray Anderson, who is Distinguished Toll Professor at Stony Brook University, has distinguished himself as a preeminent jazz trombone player who has received international acclaim. Formerly the Director of Jazz Studies at Stony Brook University, Anderson maintains a thriving performance and recording career that has spanned more than three decades. He is a co-founder board of The Jazz Loft and currently serves as vice president.
“I am so grateful to have received this wonderful award from the Jazz Loft,” Anderson said. “And my gratitude extends to all the many people on Long Island and elsewhere, who have supported the abundant performance, education, and preservation that this amazing non-profit institution provides.”
“Ray Anderson has graced the latter 20th century as one of the most innovative and creative voices in Jazz, has gifted us with an incredible body of creative and ingenious musical compositions, and has left a lasting mark as an educator of note,” said Manuel. “We’re beyond honored to have him serve as the Vice President of The Jazz Loft and to have him involved in so many music projects and education workshops and clinics throughout each season at TJL. The world is absolutely a happier and more spirited place because of Ray!”
Kara Hahn, a former Suffolk County Legislator, is currently New York State Parks deputy regional director for the Long Island region. Hahn entered the county Legislature in 2012 and could not pursue reelection because of 12-year term limits for legislators. During her time as legislator for the 5th District, Hahn was incredibly supportive of The Jazz Loft and its mission to bring live music to the community.
“Everything is better with great live music!” Hahn said. “Live music brings people together. Music heals people, it hears you, it sees you, it expresses for you what you wish you were articulate enough to say! Music, especially jazz music, soothes our souls and inspires us and energizes us. Houses of music like the wonderful Jazz Loft do the same for communities, and that is why we are so lucky to have Tom Manuel and the Jazz Loft here in our hometown, and I am incredibly honored to be recognized in this way.”
Manuel said “Kara Hahn is akin to our Jazz legends like Norman Granz, Leonard Feather and Nat Hentoff. These folks were stalwart advocates for the American born art form of Jazz and they championed both artists and organizations that today are household names. Jazz has always been a music of what’s ‘new’ and ‘new’ needs friends. Kara has supported the Jazz Loft from day one and through her support TJL now has an annual Swing Into Spring Festival that brings Jazz all throughout our community– to restaurants, businesses and more. She also helped create our outdoor series called Summer SWAP (Stage With A Purpose) that helps bring free concerts to our community and has continued on thanks to sponsorship from Stony Brook University and Stony Brook Medicine. We are so grateful for Kara’s commitment, drive, and dedication to her community. She is without question a gift to us all.”
Past recipients of the Legends in Jazz Award have been bass player Bill Crow and guitarist Gene Bertoncini.
The Jazz Loft, 275 Christian Ave., Stony Brook presents jazz fusionist trombonist Ray Anderson on Friday, April 28 at 7 p.m.
Anderson’s performance is part of the launching of the Jazz Loft’s new Institute for New Music, an affiliate of the Jazz Loft, which will serve as an “musical and artistic incubator” by providing time and space to new artists in a supportive setting.
“It is wondrous that the Institute for New Music will open at this time, for this is a time when the need for new music has never been greater,” said Anderson. “Situated in the Three-Village area of Long Island, close to the famous Jazz Loft and Stony Brook University, it will bring peace, harmony, diversity, and creativity from this corner of Long Island to the world.”
Anderson was once dubbed “the wild man of the trombone” by the L.A. Times and has been named five straight years as best trombonist in the Down Beat Critics Poll. He has been declared “the most exciting slide brass player of his generation” by the Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD.
Anderson is a Professor of Jazz Studies in the Music Department at nearby Stony Brook University where he has been on the faculty for 16 years.
The Ray Anderson Ensemble features: Ray Anderson, trombone; Mark Helias, bass; and Moshe Elmakias, piano.
“We’ve welcomed some incredible talent at the Loft these past few years,” said Jazz Loft Founder Tom Manuel, “but I can think of no one more creative, more dynamic, more authentically real in transmitting his musical voice than Ray Anderson. There is an incredibly transcendent spirit of love and acceptance when he performs and those who are lucky enough to be present leave uplifted and moved for sure!”
Tickets are $30 adults, $25 seniors, $20 students $15 children at www.thejazzloft.org. For more Information visit https://www.thejazzloft.org.
Setauket resident and jazz musician, Ray Anderson, is celebrating a career that has been nothing but noteworthy. And at a performance at The Jazz Loft in Stony Brook Oct. 25, music lovers will get a taste of his talent and be able to witness the launch of his archives there.
Photo by Erika Kapin
The trombonist, 67, first picked up his instrument at the age of 8, after having been inspired partly by his theologian father’s jazz records that predominantly featured the famous trumpet player, Louis Armstrong. The sound of Anderson’s chosen instrument was something that he found appealing, especially since, he said, the musicians playing trombone sounded like they were having fun.
He studied music at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools with future trombone legends such as George Lewis and was taught by Frank Tirro, the future dean of the Yale School of Music.
Anderson attended three different universities, three different times, before eventually receiving a bachelor’s degree from Empire State College in Saratoga Springs in 2010.
“I’m self-educated in a lot of ways,” he said. “Performing became my education.”
He moved to Los Angeles in 1971 to attend the California Institute of the Arts, only to find the campus was not yet open. He wound up living with Stanley Crouch, a black writer and jazz critic, frequently known for his controversial views amongst the African American community on his disillusionment with the Black Power movement.
While attending college in Minnesota and Los Angeles, he played in R&B bands and joined funk and Latin bands while living in San Francisco. While Anderson looks back with great fondness on his days where he became “moderately successful” working odd jobs and playing music in San Francisco, he said he felt the urge to discover the New York music scene, so he moved to Manhattan in 1973.
“I was 20 years old and had no real roots anywhere,” he said. “I figured I would move to New York and see what happened.”
He performed with clarinetist and saxophonist Jimmy Giuffre and drummer Barry Altschul while playing with composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton’s quartet for three years. He has since performed in a variety of his own bands, such as the Pocket Brass Band and Lapis Lazuli band.
Anderson recently returned from a European tour with BassDrumBone, a band named after its bass, drums, trombone players. He started the group in 1977 with his friends bassist Mark Helias and drummer Gerry Hemingway. It has been running ever since.
“I’ve learned so much from both of them,” he said. “They’re my age so it’s not a traditional teacher-student type of thing, but they’re both really, really wise.”
His first feature album was blues guitarist Luther Allison’s “Night Life,” before recording for Gramavision, as well as European record label Enja and others.
“I didn’t have a career where I worked as a member of a more established senior band, so I learned a lot from my contemporaries,” he said.
Anderson said he recently recorded a solo trombone piece based off of a solo performance he did in France and is currently in the process of sending it to record companies.
“That’s been a longtime dream,” he said.
Anderson describes his style as “witty” and “challenging,” and he acknowledges and respects the players who have come before him
Yet, having composed more than 100 pieces, Anderson has learned to take a lighthearted approach to music with songs titled “If I Ever Had a Home It Was a Slide Trombone,” and “Raven-a-Ning,” the latter piece being composed for his son, Raven, and a play on the classic “Rhythm-a-Ning” by Thelonious Monk.
While his calm and joyous approach to life is evident in conversation, he had to overcome tragedy when his wife, lyricist and poet, Jackie Raven, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999 and passed away in 2002.
“I had two young motherless kids and my life as a touring musician had to stop,” he said.
Photo by Ssirus Pakzad
Anderson was the artist in residence at Stony Brook University for six months in 2001, and in 2003 was appointed director of jazz studies, a title he has held ever since.
“It enabled me to stay home, pay the bills and care for my kids who were 11 and 15 when she died,” he said. “I’m sure you can appreciate why I’m boundlessly grateful to this community for all it has given me over these many years.”
Anderson reports that both his kids are doing well and he got remarried last year, to Suzy Goodspeed.
The musician said his many years as a full-time performer make him the perfect candidate to mentor emerging musicians.
“I’m a performer first and teacher second,” he said. “I know what music feels like when you’re actually doing it.”
Anderson said his life as a performer doesn’t dismay his love for teaching.
“It’s so rewarding to be able to pass something on that’s useful,” he said. “It’s really tied in with the whole idea of trying to pay it forward because so many people gave me so much [mentorship].”
All of the courses he teaches revolve around performing. In the graduate program, he plays with students in a band and requires them to write their own music.
“We go through the process of editing and revising, and trying to find out what works and what doesn’t,” he said.
Tom Manuel, The Jazz Loft’s president and founder, praised Anderson’s impact in the jazz field.
“I think what makes Ray so important to jazz is not just that he’s amazingly talented in the world of jazz, but he has been recognized as one of those incredibly and creative inventive voices that is creating something that is new, which is hard to do,” he said.
Anderson will be performing at The Jazz Loft, where he serves as vice president, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. with his Pocket Brass Band, consisting of just trumpet, trombone, sousaphone and drums.
“I’ve played a lot of big gigs, and it’s really exciting to be in an audience of thousands of people, but playing in a small place like The Jazz Loft is often better because of the intimacy between the audience and the band,” he said.
Friday’s performance will be preceded by the launch of the Ray Anderson Archives exhibit with a reception at the venue at 6 p.m.
